Some Get Lost. Some Find Themselves.

It's hard to know where to start with this blog.  Now that we're over illness and things are moving quickly there is a lot to write about.  I might even be able to get through this one without a single mention of toilet troubles.....might.

Since we left Varanasi we've visited Jaipur, Ranthambore National Park and we're currently in Pushkar.

This weird camera angle makes the anaconda look like a cobra?!

Jaipur was a pretty nice place.  It didn't feel particularly different from any other place we had been but it moves at a slower pace.  We done the usual traveler stuff; visited a fort, checked out a palace, charmed snakes and argued with rickshaw drivers over the smallest amounts of money.  Sometimes you have to give yourself a shake and remind yourself what 10p is actually worth.  You can't even get a packet of space raiders for that back in England these days.  We fancied bit of a quiet night during our stay in Jaipur so we went to the cinema to see the latest Bollywood blockbuster, Angeepath.


I'm fucked if I know what the hell it was about but it certainly entertained.  Indian cinema is not the place to go if you fancy a quiet night though.  It's not like the cinema in England where people get pissed off if someone slurps their coke or rustles their popcorn too loud.  No.  It's more like panto.  When the hero comes on screen (which is usually out of focus) the audience goes wild.  They cheer, throw popcorn, clap and in some rare instances they even stop talking on their phones.  I did find it a little strange that one second we were seeing someone being brutally beaten then in the next scene everyone is singing and dancing.  I'd love to see Arnold Schwarzenegger break out into song after delivering a classic action hero line. "GET TO THE CHOPPER!!!" and cue music.  Maybe Hollywood has something to learn.  Anyway, we had a really good time and can't wait to do it again.

After Jaipur we jumped in a Jeep and drove five hours to Ranthambore National Park for a tiger safari.  It was a quiet place mainly filled with rich american tourists (the hotels, not the nature reserve).  Our safari was a slight disappointment to be honest.  We were out for four hours and didn't see much.  There are more animals knocking about in the streets then there were on the safari.  At one point our driver tried to claim there was a black bear in the bushes but I was pretty sure it was just a dark coloured shrub blowing in the breeze.  Still, we were out long enough for me to catch a cold and damage my spinal chord due to the sheer state of the road.  At least I wasn't shitting or spewing though so in my book it was a good day.  We spoke to a fair few people who had also been on safari and hadn't managed to see any tigers either.  I think it might just be another scam.  Print some photos of tigers off, stick them up in the ticket office and drive daft tourists around in a field for a few hours.  Money made.

Laura and Jimmy the camel

We're now in Pushkar which is my favorite place so far.  It's a holy town so things are much different here compared with other places we have visited.  The main difference being that the locals aren't scamming little bastards.  We've been spiritually cleansed (for a cost...obviously), rode a camel through the Indian countryside, climbed a mountain and had some time to chill out and collect our thoughts.  I've noticed that this town is full of hippies.  I figure they are the kind of people who came to India on a two week holiday and just ended up "getting lost" here.  They annoy me.  I was sat next to one of these uber travelers (you know the ones I mean, the ones who have had one off experiences that no other traveler could possibly of had in some remote village where the locals have never seen a white man before and it was totally spiritual and oh my god I can't even describe how much it changed my life because I realised how lucky these people are not to live in modern society and be restricted by whatever the fuck is topical at the moment). I fucking hate those types.  Where was I? Oh, so this woman who was "lost in India" pretty much put her armpit hair in my biryani.  That's not cool.  I can't remember where I was going with this............

Lessons learned this week;

1. Hemorrhoids do not appreciate camel treks in sweltering heat.
2. Bollywood films are bloody epic.  Well worth a watch.
3. Bring a map.  There are enough people "lost in India".
4. 10p is worth a lot to someone with nothing, but nothing to a lot of us.  Don't be tight.